March 2010
15 posts
Fregn - פרעגן
Fregn - פרעגן \FREG-en\ Verb:
To ask, inquire; seek.
Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation. Alternate formulation: a freg ton (א פרעג טאן). Note on usage: As Katz points out, Yiddish has several different words for a question: frage(פראגע) - a generic question; shayle (שאלה) - a halachic question; and kashye (קשיא) - a question that poses a...
Di Fir Kashyes-The Four Questions
Di Fir Kashyes
Tate, ich vel dir fregn di Fir Kashyes:(טאטע, איך וועל דיר פרעגן די פיר קשיות) Father, I will ask you the Four Questions:
Mo nishtane halayle haze mikol haleyloys? Far vos iz di dozike nacht fun Seyder andersh fun ale necht fun a gantz yor? (מה נשתנה הלילה הזה מכל הלילות? פאר וועס איז די נאכט פון סדר אנדערש פון אלע נעכט פון א גאנץ יאר)Why is this night of Seder different from all...
Gleybn/Gloybn - גלויבן/גלייבן
Gleybn/Gloybn - גלויבן/גלייבן \GLEYB-en/GLOYB-en\ Verb:
To believe.
Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonyms: meynen (מיינען); halten (האלטן).
German equivalents: fassen, glauben, meinen.
Etymology: The word(s) derive(s) from German “glauben,” from Middle High German “g(e)loube,” which is cognate with Dutch...
Dos Yiddish Vort
For those interested, Dos Yidishe Vort was a bimonthly, bilingual Yiddish-Polish publication reporting on Polish Jewish and world Jewish news to the Polish Yiddish-speaking community from 1991 to 2003, after which it seems to have stopped publishing. You can still access some of the articles online to see what the paper was about and what Polish Jewish society was like in the years following the...
Kern - קערן
Kern - קערן \KER-en\ Verb:
1. To turn. 2. To sweep. 3. To belong to.
Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonyms: Sense #1: dreyen (דרייען), vendn (ווענדן). Sense #2: bezemen (בעזעמען). Sense #3: gehern (געהערן).
German equivalents: Sense #1: biegen, drehen, rotieren. Sense #2: kehren, rauschen, streichen. Sense #3: gehören.
Etymology:...
Yiddishkayt LA
For those interested, Yiddishkayt LA is an LA-based non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Yiddish language and culture in LA and around the world. It organizes educational events in and around LA and offers information on Yiddish classes given throughout the city. You can sign up for its monthly Yidbits newsletter, and check the archives, here.
Betn - בעטן
Betn - בעטן \BET-en\ Verb:
1. To request, ask, bid.2. To beg, implore, entreat, beseech.3. To pray.
Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonyms:Sense #1: onzogn (אנזאגן), onmutn (אנמוטן).Sense #2: betlen (בעטלען), shnoren (שנארען).Sense #3: davnen (דאוונען), mispalel zayn (מתפלל זיין), tfile ton (תפילה טאן).
German equivalents: Sense #1:...
Yiddish Lives
For those interested, Yiddish Lives is a website that seeks to record, via YouTube videos, the speech and life stories of Yiddish-speakers (some of whom were born in the Alte Heym, others of whom were raised in North America) in Yiddish. If you know someone interested in preserving his/her Yiddish dialect for future generations, this is a great way for him/her to do so.
Vant - וואנט
Vant - וואנט \VANT\ Noun:
A wall.
Pronunciation: Click here to hear a native Yiddish speaker use this word in conversation.
Synonym: moyer (מויער) (usually used in reference to a stone wall).
German equivalent: die Mauer, der Wall, die Wand.
Etymology: The word derives from the German “die Wand,” itself from Old High German “want.”
Derivatives of vant: ventl (ווענטל)...
Modern Yiddish Orthography System Online
For those interested, the Danish University of Aarhus (interestingly) has a website dedicated to explaining, in detail, the YIVO (Yidisher Visenshaftlicher Institut) orthography system of Modern Yiddish, as well as differences in pronunciation of sounds among the various dialects of Yiddish. It’s well worth the time to review if you are unfamiliar.
